In the article “Passing the buck: blaming others is contagious,” author Jeanna Bryner does a wonderful job of exposing what seems to be a norm in today's society, the finger pointing game. Thanks to a series of experiments conducted by Nathanael Fast and Larissa Tiedens of Stanford University, scientists now believe that the blame game is socially contagious; that bad behavior can spread just as well as good behavior. Mr Fast believes influential people could counter accusations by developing trustworthy behavior, leading to better job performance and more creative thinking. The irresponsibility of blaming others for your own actions can be done subtly with great tact, or directly. with implications intended to hurt. Either way, I think it shows a weak indecisive character. Although it remains socially unacceptable, motivations for participating in the blame game can come from various character flaws, such as striving to protect one's self-image, justifying one's actions by evading one's actions, low self-esteem, or lack of self. -control. According to Marc and Dianna MacYoung of No Nonsense Self Defense, blame is a lot like anger; it teaches us to override our self-control and ultimately dulls the feeling of empathy. Pointing fingers to blame someone else can be detrimental to everyone involved; age or gender play no role. Whatever the circumstances, the person who blames suffers just as much as the person being blamed. There are those of us who pride ourselves on being able to get along with others, we are socially adjusted and anger does not seem to play a very important role. important role in our lives. We don't see ourselves as someone who points fingers, but at some point we are all guilty. I know I am. I get annoyed by people who are inconsiderate, but I'm often inconsiderate myself. “Whatever irritates us in others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves…these projections isolate and paralyze individuals by forming a thick fog of illusion between the ego and the real world…these feelings can be clues valuable that can lead to a greater understanding of ourselves. –Carl Jung. A person cannot learn from their mistakes if their mental patterns are oriented toward refusing responsibility. The choice is ours, we can be hypocritical, perhaps undermining at times, or we can take the high road and learn to be upright and conscious in everything we say and do..